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Terror cells busted in Jeddah, Makkah raids

MOHAMMED AL-SULAMI|Published — Friday 6 May 2016

CRACKDOWN ON TERROR: Saudi security forces report success in their operations against terrorists in Makkah and Jeddah.

JEDDAH: In two preemptive raids carried out simultaneously in Makkah and Jeddah on Thursday, the Interior Ministry thwarted the plots of several terrorists planning attacks in the Kingdom.In the first raid on a rest house in Wadi No’man, east of Makkah, at dawn on Thursday, members of the security forces and the terrorists were involved in a fire fight, resulting in the death of two terrorists, while two others with suicide belts blew themselves up. No one else was injured.The ministry had received information about the presence of several terrorists a few kilometers from security installations at the holy sites. The area was immediately cordoned off at dawn and surrounded. The men had opened fire at the security forces and thrown grenades.Makkah governorate announced the success of the security operation on its Twitter account, without releasing further details, saying that the ministry would release information at a later stage.It is believed that the Makkah cell is linked to Oqab Al-Otaibi, a suspect arrested recently in connection with the Daesh cell that carried out a suicide attack on a mosque used by members the Special Emergency Forces in Asir in August 2015.At the same time, the authorities carried out another raid in Jeddah where two men were allegedly hiding and planning attacks. Both were arrested and are under investigation for their links to a terrorist cell.An Interior Ministry source said that the two successful operations had been carried out based on information gathered from a two-day raid in Bisha that ended on Sunday. In the operation, two Daesh suspects were killed and a third wounded.